In the past twenty years, remarkable advances have taken place in the orthodontic field, specifically in the nature of orthodontic brackets. These orthodontic brackets used for straightening teeth have become stronger, smaller, and even less easy to see in the mouth. Specifically, many orthodontic brackets are now made using crystalline or polycrystalline formulas. One such crystalline bracket is the Starfire.TM. bracket marketed by "A"-Company of San Diego, Calif. Except for the archwire placed within these brackets, it is virtually impossible to detect their placement on the teeth.
A problem encountered during placement of these brackets is proper alignment of the archwire slots along the occlusal plane of the mouth while ensuring that the ridge between tie wings in the brackets is aligned with the crown long axis of the tooth. One previous solution has been to emplace colored plastic between the tie wing ridges and using such plastic to align the bracket with the crown long axis of the tooth. Generally, these colored plastic pieces have been bulky and obtrusive during the emplacement of the bracket on the tooth. This is, generally these brackets have been hindered by the plastic axis indicators when emplaced within the mouth. The axis indicators are so large that they fit around and even over the bracket, and it becomes difficult to tell whether the bracket itself is properly emplaced within the mouth, simply because of the plastic axis indicator.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an axis indicator so that the bracket can be aligned with the crown long axis of the tooth.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an axis indicator wherein the bracket is easily evident, and accessible to the orthodontist during emplacement in the mouth.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an axis indicator that conforms to the size of the dental bracket without hiding the dental bracket in the mouth.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an axis indicator which allows the orthodontist to adjust the dental bracket in the mouth while maintaining the axis indicator on the bracket until the bracket is properly placed in its desired position on the tooth.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an axis indicator which allows the orthodontist to discern the distal-gingival tie wing of the dental bracket for proper placement on the correct tooth in the mouth.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an axis indicator which will not be removed from the dental bracket during shipping or during emplacement within the mouth, until the desired placement is made.